Zhuge Liang
Zhuge Liang is a character that first appeared on the first Chaos of the Three Kingdoms game, he is known for helping Liu Bei obtain the lands of Shu and planned the strategy the divide china into three kingdoms Description Zhuge Liang is a calm and collected prime minster who wants to rid the world of the Wei army, he decides to help Liu Bei fight Dark Lord Cao Cao and he divided the land of china into three factions after the Battle of Chi Bi, he also helps Liu Bei gain the lands of Shu after defeating Liu Zhang. Historical Information Early life Zhuge Liang was born in Yangdu, Langya Commandery (present-day Yinan County, Shandong). He was orphaned at a premature age, and was raised by his uncle, Zhuge Xuan.4 He followed his uncle to live in Jing Province under Liu Biao later. After his uncle died, Zhuge Liang and his brothers settled in Wolonggang (in present-day Henan)5678 for the next ten years or so, leading simple lives – farming by day and studying at night. Zhuge Liang's two older sisters married members of influential clans with strong connections in the region. Zhuge Liang enjoyed reciting Liangfu Yin (梁父吟), a folk song popular in Shandong, his birthplace. He also liked to compare himself to Guan Zhong and Yue Yi, two famous historical figures. He developed close friendships with members of the local literati, such as Xu Shu, Cui Zhouping, Meng Jian and Shi Tao. Zhuge Liang also maintained close relations with other well known intellectuals, such as Sima Hui, Pang Degong and Huang Chengyan. Huang Chengyan once told Zhuge Liang, "I heard that you're seeking a spouse. I've an ugly daughter with a yellow face and dark complexion, but her talent matches yours."9 Zhuge Liang agreed and married Huang Chengyan's daughter. Service under Liu Bei At that time, Liu Bei resided at Xinye while he was taking shelter under Jing Province's governor, Liu Biao. Liu Bei visited Sima Hui, who told him, "Confucian academics and common scholars, how much do they know about current affairs? Those who analyze current affairs well are elites. Crouching Dragon and Young Phoenix are the only ones in this region."10 Xu Shu later recommended Zhuge Liang to Liu Bei again, and Liu wanted to ask Xu to invite Zhuge to meet him. However, Xu Shu replied, "You must visit this man in person. He cannot be invited to meet you."11 Liu Bei succeeded in recruiting Zhuge Liang in 207 after paying three personal visits.2I Zhuge Liang presented the Longzhong Plan to Liu Bei and left his residence to follow Liu. Afterwards, Liu Bei became very close to Zhuge Liang and often had discussions with him. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were not pleased and complained. Liu Bei explained, "Now that I've Kongming (Zhuge Liang's style name), it's just like a fish getting into water. I hope you'll stop making unpleasant remarks."12 Guan Yu and Zhang Fei then stopped complaining. edit As a lobbyist Main article: Battle of Red Cliffs In 208, Liu Biao died and was succeeded by his younger son, Liu Cong, who surrendered Jing Province to Cao Cao. When Liu Bei heard of Liu Cong's surrender, he led his followers (both troops and civilians) on an exodus southward to Xiakou, engaging Cao Cao's forces in a brief skirmish at the Battle of Changban along the way. While in Xiakou, Liu Bei sent Zhuge Liang to follow Lu Su to Jiangdong to discuss the formation of an alliance between him and Sun Quan. Zhuge Liang met Sun Quan in Chaisang and proposed two solutions to Sun, "If you can use the forces of Wuyue to resist the Middle Kingdom, why not break ties (with Cao Cao) in advance? If you cannot oppose, why not demobilize the troops, discard your armour and surrender to the north?"13 After Sun Quan's viceroy, Zhou Yu, analyzed the situation and pointed out weaknesses in Cao Cao's army, Sun finally agreed to ally with Liu Bei in resisting Cao. Zhuge Liang returned to Liu Bei's camp with Sun Quan's envoy, Lu Su, to make preparation for the upcoming war. edit As a logistics officerSee also: Liu Bei's takeover of Yi Province In late 208, the allied armies of Liu Bei and Sun Quan scored a decisive victory over Cao Cao's forces at the Battle of Red Cliffs. Cao Cao retreated to Ye, while Liu Bei proceeded to conquer territories in Jiangnan, covering most of southern Jing Province. Zhuge Liang was appointed "Military Advisor General of the Household" (軍師中郎將). He was put in charge of governing Lingling (present day Yongzhou, Hunan), Guiyang and Changsha commanderies and collecting taxes to fund the military. In 211, Liu Zhang, governor of Yi Province (covering present-day Sichuan basin), requested aid from Liu Bei in attacking Zhang Lu of Hanzhong. Liu Bei left Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others in charge of Jing Province while he led an army into Sichuan. Liu Bei promptly agreed to Liu Zhang's proposal, but secretly planned to take over Liu Zhang's land. The following year, Liu Zhang discovered Liu Bei's intention, and the two turned hostile and waged war on each other. Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun led separate forces to reinforce Liu Bei in the attack on Liu Zhang's capital city, Chengdu, while Guan Yu stayed behind to guard Jing Province. In 214, Liu Zhang surrendered and Liu Bei took control of Yi Province. Liu Bei appointed Zhuge Liang "Military Advisor General" (軍師將軍) and let him administer affairs of his personal office (office of the General of the Left (左將軍)). Whenever Liu Bei embarked on military campaigns, Zhuge Liang remained to defend Chengdu and ensure a steady flow of supply of troops and provisions. In 221, in response to Cao Pi's usurping of Emperor Xian's throne, Liu Bei's subordinates advised him to declare himself emperor. After initially refusing, Liu Bei was eventually persuaded by Zhuge Liang to do so and became ruler of Shu Han. Liu Bei named Zhuge Liang his chancellor and put him in charge of the imperial agency where Zhuge assumed the functions of Imperial Secretariat. Zhuge Liang was appointed "Director of Retainers" (司隸校尉) after Zhang Fei's death. edit Service under Liu Shan In the spring of 222, Liu Bei retreated to Yong'an (present-day Fengjie County, Chongqing) after his defeat at the Battle of Xiaoting and became seriously ill. He summoned Zhuge Liang from Chengdu and said to him, "You're ten times more talented than Cao Pi, capable of both securing the country and accomplishing our great mission. If my son can be assisted, then assist him. If he proves incompetent, then you may take over the throne."14 Zhuge Liang replied tearfully, "I'll do my utmost and serve with unwavering loyalty until death."15 Liu Bei then ordered his son, Liu Shan, to administer state affairs together with Zhuge Liang and regard Zhuge as his father. edit As a regent After Liu Bei's death, Liu Shan ascended to the throne of Shu Han. He granted Zhuge Liang the title of "Marquis of Wu" (武鄉侯) and created an office for him. Not long later, Zhuge Liang was appointed governor of Yi Province and put in charge of all state affairs. At the same time, the commanderies in Nanzhong rebelled against Shu, but Zhuge Liang did not send troops to suppress the revolt as Liu Bei's death was still recent. He sent Deng Zhi and Chen Zhen to make peace with Eastern Wu and re-entered an alliance with Wu. Zhuge Liang would consistently send envoys to Wu to improve diplomatic relations between the two states. [edit] Southern Campaign Main article: Zhuge Liang's Southern Campaign During his reign as regent, Zhuge Liang set Shu's objective as the restoration of the Han Dynasty, which from Shu's point of view, had been usurped by Cao Wei. He felt that in order to attack Wei, a complete unification of Shu was first needed.16 Zhuge Liang was worried that the local clans would work with the Nanman tribes in Nanzhong to stage a revolution. Fearing the possibility that the peasants might rebel and press into areas surrounding the capital city of Chengdu while he was attacking Wei in the north, Zhuge Liang decided to pacify the southern tribes first. In the spring of 225, regional clans including Yong, Gao, Zhu, and Meng had taken control of some cities in the south, so Zhuge Liang led an expedition force to Nanzhong. Ma Su proposed that they should attempt to win the hearts of the Nanman and rally their support instead of using military force to subdue them. Zhuge Liang heeded Ma Su's advice and defeated the rebel leader, Meng Huo, on seven different occasions, as it was claimed in later histories like the Chronicles of Huayang. He released Meng Huo each time in order to achieve Meng's genuine surrender.17 The story about Meng Huo's seven captures is recently questioned by many modern academics, including historians like Miao Yue, Tan Liangxiao, and Zhang Hualan. Realizing he had no chance to win, Meng Huo pledged allegiance to Shu, and was appointed by Zhuge Liang as governor of the region to keep the populace content and secure the southern Shu border. This would ensure that the future Northern Expeditions would proceed without internal disruptions.16 Rich and abundant resources acquired from Nanzhong were used to fund Shu's military and the state became more prosperous. edit Northern Expeditions and death Main article: Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions After pacifying the Nanman, Zhuge Liang ordered the Shu military to make preparations for a large scale offensive on the rival state of Wei. In 227, while in Hanzhong, he wrote a memorial, titled Chu Shi Biao, to Liu Shan, stating his rationale for the campaign and giving advice to the emperor on good governance. From 228 until his death in 234, Zhuge Liang launched a total of five Northern Expeditions against Wei, all except one of which failed. The only permanent gains by Shu were the conquests of Wudu and Yinping prefectures, as well as the relocation of Wei citizens to Shu on occasion.18 However, Zhuge Liang's army never suffered casualties over 5% of the total forces, and the resources put into military were affordable (assuming Shu's zenith at 200,000 military strength.) During the first Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang persuaded Jiang Wei, a young Wei military officer, to surrender and defect to his side.18 Jiang Wei became a prominent general of Shu later and inherited Zhuge Liang's ideals. In late 234, Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi (the Wei commander) reached a stalemate at the Battle of Wuzhang Plains. Zhuge Liang fell seriously ill and eventually died in camp at the age of 54. Before his death, Zhuge Liang recommended Jiang Wan and Fei Yi to succeed him as regent of Shu.19 He was buried on Mount Dingjun according to his dying wish and posthumously granted the title of "Loyal and Martial Marquis" (忠武侯) by Liu Shan. Skills Tao Spell: Arrows of Sun *First Appearance: Chaos of the Three Kingdoms *Description: Zhuge Liang summons a portal which will unleash a barrage of holy arrows, Light Elemental. Tao Spell: Heavenly Lights *First Appearance: Chaos of the Three Kingdoms *Description: Zhuge Liang will stab his sword in the ground which unleash pillars of light to attack enemy soldiers. Light Elemental. Tao Spell: Celestial Blast *First Appearance: Chaos of the Three Kingdoms *Description: Zhuge Liang summons 5 portals from the ground and beams of pure light arise from the portals to disintegrate enemy soldiers. Light Elemental. Valor Attack: Destructive Yin Yang's Light *First Appearance: Chaos of the Three Kingdoms *Description: a devastating attack performed by Zhuge Liang, he will lift his sword in the air and yin yang ritual sign will appear on the ground and a huge beam of heavenly light will crash down, causing the ground to crack into huge fissures and enemy soldiers to fall inside. Light Elemental. Tao Spell: Trial of Heaven *First Appearance: Chaos of the Three Kingdoms 2 *Description: Zhuge Liang summons a portal that scatters multiple bolts of electricity that does continous damage towards enemy soldiers. Light Elemental Tao Spell: Aurora Vacuum Mist *First Appearance: Chaos of the Three Kingdoms 2 *Description: Zhuge Liang uses his sword to summon the power of the aurora lights into his sword and then unleashes a powerful energy wave that devastates all enemies on screen. Light Elemental. Tao Spell: Celestial Assault *First Appearance: Chaos of the Three Kingdoms 2 *Description: Zhuge Liang summons three portals in front of him which fires three burning meteors that crash lands into enemy soldiers, killing them in the process. Light Elemental. Valor Attack: Sonata of the Celestial Sky *First Appearance: Chaos of the Three Kingdoms 2 *Description: Zhuge Liang unleashes a huge portal from above and energy beams of fire, ice, and lightning will strike the ground that devastates all enemies in it's wake. Light Elemental. Category:Characters Category:Shu Army